Who can help an AGF trading company with automation and software in the Netherlands?
There are several parties in the Netherlands that focus specifically on the AGF sector. For industry-specific ERP software, there are vendors that understand trading processes: purchasing from growers, quality control at intake, sorting, sales, and invoicing in a single system. Companies looking for more control over specific sub-processes, such as automated document processing or EDI connections with supermarkets, will need different parties. And companies that want to rebuild their core system from the ground up with AI built in, or add an automation layer on top of an existing system, will end up with a party like Bonsai Software. The right choice depends on company size, urgency, and whether you want to adapt or replace.
The full automation landscape for AGF trading
Most conversations about AGF software focus exclusively on ERP, but the automation landscape is broader. A trading company that is serious about digitisation typically deals with five layers. First, the core system: an ERP or trading platform that manages purchasing, inventory, quality, sales, and invoicing. Second, WMS functionality for the cold store: location management, shelf-life data, lot registration, and pick lists, often integrated into the ERP or available as a separate module. Third, EDI connections with supermarket chains, which submit orders in a standardised format but rarely through the same channel: one chain sends via GS1, another via email or a portal. Fourth, connectivity with auction platforms such as The Greenery or grower cooperatives, where purchase orders and quality certificates need to be processed automatically. Fifth, transport planning and CMR documents, because an AGF company almost always works with its own or dedicated carriers and does not want to type driver assignments and waybills by hand. Most companies have layer one reasonably covered but get stuck on layers three, four, and five.
Where do you start if you have no idea?
Start with three questions. One: where does your team spend the most time on manual work that was already captured in an email, a PDF, or a portal? That is almost always the first entry point for automation. Two: do you already have a core system that works reasonably well, or is everyone still working in Excel and separate spreadsheets? If the answer is the latter, you need a foundation before you can think about automation. Three: what is your scale? A five-person company needs a different solution than a fifty-person company. Smaller companies are best served by a well-configurable industry package. Larger companies, or companies with complex international trade flows, tend to hit the limits of standard software faster and benefit from custom development or a hybrid approach.
When is Bonsai Software a good fit, and when is it not?
Bonsai is a good fit when an AGF company is stuck on a specific process that no standard package handles well: for example, automatically processing purchase orders from auction platforms in varying file formats, connecting multiple EDI channels from supermarket customers to a single internal system, or automatically generating packing lists and CMR documents from an existing ERP that is too limited to do this on its own. We build these as AI Workers on top of the existing system, so you do not need to replace your core system. Bonsai is also a good fit if you want to rebuild your core system entirely from scratch, including trading logic, quality registration, and logistics, with AI built in from the start. Bonsai is not the right fit if you are looking for an out-of-the-box industry ERP that you want live next month: for that, AGF-specific packages are the better choice. We are not an implementation partner for existing software and do not do SAP rollouts.
The three most overlooked automations in AGF trading
In conversations with AGF traders, the same blind spots come up repeatedly. First blind spot: EDI connections are considered solved as soon as the connection with one supermarket chain works, while a second chain submits orders through a different channel and those are still being typed over manually. Second blind spot: quality data at intake is recorded on paper or in a standalone Excel file, separate from the inventory system. When a claim comes in later, it takes hours to reconstruct the information. Third blind spot: the connection with the carrier. Orders are planned correctly internally, but the waybill and driver sheet are written out by hand. Each of these three is a contained automation project that can be tackled independently of a large ERP migration.